Emotional connect to Aditya Birla Group?
Beginning of 4 years of undergrad life of a 17 yr old teen and what do a new beginning and an occasion have in common? Brand new clothes. Clothing is a way to express feelings and it evokes confidence. As a first-hand consumer, I feel, Indian citizens seek comfort in the experience they have when it comes to shopping, but what to do if you move a lot. New place, new locality and the first visit to a brand store would be a make or break deal. To my luck I visited "Peter England" and I didn't know then how profound my connection would be with this brand in the coming years.
“Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves.”
– Steve Jobs
Everywhere I went, I exclusively searched for a Peter England stores for my every clothing requirement. Be it casual wear or party wear, the store was there with the latest collections catering my wants. A sense of personal shopping experience being present at the outlets affirmed my trust I had put in the brand. And, then the time came for me to transition to the corporate world and I had to start exploring for more formal attire. Even though my needs were attended by the brand but, change is inevitable and as a customer, I sought after one of the most talked clothing brand: The "Van Heusen". Something felt similar, same great personalized experience with great clothing options. To my realisation, this was the experience of Aditya Birla Group.
My interest in the other ABG initiatives started to grow and to my astonishment, I could find the presence of the group everywhere around me. Building communities, serving societies, ABG was weiving people together to make life simple yet better. So now what if you are required to stay in the outskirts of a district which is not very serviceable? I invoked your trust in the group and ABG ensured that my stay was as comfortable as possible.
Lastly being a typical Indian shopper, I make people experience my experience and brands under the umbrella of ABG have always upheld my claim.
Actions speak louder than the words!
Now it's been 7 years since I last used the line "Hey I am Kaustubh! we just moved to this place" and although being in a comfort zone is what drives the decision of most people but I miss those engagements with people. New culture, food, maybe a bit of nomadic feeling but most importantly fresh set of people who see the world differently because they have observed the world a bit differently than you have.
"First impression is the last impression"
New to the society and a bit shy, chances are you'll be selected last in the team. No matter how proficient you say you are, you'll be judged on the first performance of yours. Isn't it true everywhere? Interviews, jobs, dates and many more places. Everyone has experienced it first hand. As a human, I had an urge to fit-in which led me to introspect what things I could do differently to make the first impression. These challenging situation made me realise that honesty and realising your potential, as well as limits, are the things to make a great start in everything that you want to be part of. Also, your nature and the actions you perform, play different roles in achieving the same goal i.e. to save you from being misjudged at the very first instant.
But what purpose do your actions and your nature serve? Actions serve as a way to get insight into people, know them properly and even choose them while selecting for a football match or maybe cricket. Nature, on the other hand, builds the emotional connect and both together helped me stand out of that misjudged crowd and be an integral part of teams everywhere.
"Every single one of us is important. But no one is above the team"
I believe the word "team" in the corporate world holds the power to either bring something down or build things up. So even though there were technical challenges that I faced while leading a team in college, my gathered experience helped to bring the team together to accomplish the humungous tasks through their tireless day and night efforts.
